The phone itself was, alas, not on display at CTIA in San Diego, a phone convention increasingly known for its lack of actual new phones. But in these studio shots, it looks really good. If it didn't have the Fender logo, I'd be like, "Hey, look at my sweet phone. Doesn't it kind of remind you of a guitar?" But emblazoned as it is, the bearer is forced to apologize for it, like, "Yeah, I really liked how it looked, even though I know how corny it is to have a phone with my guitar's logo on it. Will you forgive me?"

And the ghost of Les Paul played on... [T-Mobile]

If you are still with us after that price revelation, you might be interested to know that the Mad Catz guitar also features fast-action ‘Shredderz' fret buttons—an exclusive addition that makes it easier to tear up solos. If that isn't enough to improve your game, the optional Electro-Harmonix Overdrive Pedal, the back tuning button, the old-fashioned tilt mechanism, and a new touch sensitive pickup are thrown in for good measure. Expect to see it on store shelves sometime in the next few weeks. [Kotaku]

According to GameTank's CEO Jake Parks, the connection to the guitar would either work "via a guitar-USB adapter, a microphone, or directly to the sound card." He told us that they are planning to release for both Mac and PC.

The cool thing about Guitar Rising is that it isn't a simple videogame, but combines the fun of playing and beating scores to actually teach you how to play the real thing. While they "are in the process of licensing popular rock songs, and we'll announce them on our website as soon as we finalize the deals," there will be different songs for different levels of difficulty to ease the learning curve, as well as different speed settings, so you can start slow and progress until you master the song at real speed. In fact, they say that the song selection will include stuff easy for beginners but also songs challenging for experienced players.

In other words, you will actually learn to play guitar and try to be a Keith Richards-wannabe rather than just pretending to be Jeff Vader pretending to be Keith Richards. If you want to give it a try, they will be at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco to visit us in the OMPR/IBM Pavilion, booth 6241. [Guitar Rising]

Add that amount found in the guitar to all the cocaine the guy had mixed up in ten Thermos flasks in his luggage, and the grand total value (certainly inflated by breathless War on Drugs enforcers) was $5.12 million worth of the stuff. Just think of how many times this has been done without detection. [Music Thing]

Product Page [Via Popgadget]

Fender and Intel's "surf guitar" [Popgadget]

Specs and pricing on traditional Fender guitars [Shopping.com]

A Hello Kitty Stratocaster [OhGizmo!]

For the avid musician on the go, having an instrument in perfect tune is a must. Just imagine if Rush tried playing "2112" without being in tune? A disaster. Fender wants you to make sure your Telecaster, Strat, or any product made by them is in tune so they don't get a bad rep when you're playing. So they created the Speed-e (Get it? If not, go pick up guitar 101 and keep reading) keychain tuner for tuning on the go. It's about the size of a 1/4" instrument jack and has a little LED indicator. It works by tuning your high E string and then using your ear to do the rest or by playing an E on B,G,D,A, and low E. A new approach to tuning. At $19.95, the price isn't bad, either. A great gift for the holidays. We're sure you know a coffee shop musician in need of a tuner.

Fender Gives you something else to lose beside your keys [Distortion That Rocks]

Pricing for Fender Speed-e tuner keychain [Shopping.com]

Intel decided to really go all out with Fender on this one. They took the ever-so-popular Telecaster and made it do the digital dance. It looks like the sleek and slender tele at first, but flip it over and you'll reveal a touchscreen with Wi-Fi capabilities. The goal here is silly, but promising. Fender imagines you'll want to surf the web on stage in between songs. I could see this being useful for getting tabs or lyrics for a cover song, but other then that, it seems like a great way to charge a lot of money for a Telecaster.

Intel create super-charged internet-enabled Fender Telecaster [Pocket-Lint]